Terms & Conditions

Terms and Conditions of Eclipse Travel Pty Ltd

In this contract:

“the client” or “you/your” is referring to the lead-named person on the confirmation invoice (who must be at least 18 years old at the time of booking) and all persons on whose behalf a booking is made.
“we/us/our” is referring to Vivid Expeditions Pty Ltd trading as Eclipse Travel ACN 158 316 959.
“Land Arrangements” refer to all accommodation, transfers, tours, included meals and any other arrangements made by us on the client’s behalf for their booking.

Booking Procedure

1.1 The contract between you and us comes into existence at such time as the final quoted itinerary, and invoice, is sent by us to you, and you make payment for that invoice (the “final quotation price”), and therefore confirm your booking. You and us will have agreed on the final quotation price, checked your names are correct as per your passport on any flights booked and we will then have provided you with the final quoted itinerary as described in either our brochure/web site or your custom made itinerary.
1.2 If you make a booking on behalf of other people as well as yourself, you represent and we accept that you have the authority of each of those other people to enter into this contract and that you and they have agreed to be jointly and severally liable to us. In any event, you accept personal liability for the acceptance, and/or compliance, of each of those other people with this contract.
1.3 If we are unable to accept your booking, we will return the payment for the final quotation price to you immediately, or in our discretion offer you a suitable alternative booking.

Deposit Payment

2.1 For you to make a booking, we require you to pay a non-refundable deposit, accept the terms and conditions in this contract, and complete all passport and passenger details correctly. Deposit amounts will be comprised of 100% of the cost for any flights and 25% of the cost of all Land Arrangements. If there is a specific amount required in addition to these standard deposit amounts, your Eclipse Travel Pty Ltd sales contact will notify you at the time of booking.
2.2 Once your deposit has been received we will confirm all services in your itinerary. To be clear, we will not guarantee any services until all deposit amounts have been received. The acceptance by us of payment of a deposit does not represent an acceptance of booking. A booking will be deemed to have been accepted once we have confirmed acceptance in writing.
2.3 Accepting Bitcoin as deposit. Amount must be minimum value of $1100 Australian Dollars. Invoices will be sent in AUD and the Bitcoin exchange rate used will be at the time of payment.

Pricing

3.1 Quotations are valid for 7 days and once agreed, prices are not subject to any currency surcharges once a deposit has been made.
3.2 Flight prices and currencies change regularly and the only way to guarantee the final quotation price is by full payment of any flights and deposit of your land / cruise arrangements as agreed by your consultant. If you have made a part deposit on a booking e.g. cruise then are deciding further arrangements at a later date, you will be re quoted on the unconfirmed services when you are ready to go ahead.
3.3 Prices on our website, quotations and brochures, are based on USD costs and exchange rates at on the day or the time of creation and printing. No surcharge in respect to cost or currency fluctuations will be made to the arrangements of your booking once full deposit payment of the final quotation price has been received from you by us, except in the case of Gadventures and Quark bookings who can add currency increases on their AUD products. Fuel surcharges are decided by tour, transport and cruise operators based on the price of oil and if any surcharge is applied we will pass this cost onto you. Additionally if there are unforeseen increases in airfares or other transportation costs, increases in local operator costs, taxes, or if government action should result in price increases, then these costs will be passed over to you. You agree to pay to us these additional surcharges and costs.

Payment due dates and failure to pay

4.1 The last date for payment by you to us of the balance of the cost of your booking (final quotation price) will be 95 days prior to the start date of your itinerary. Depending on the operator of certain cruises then full payment is required 125 days prior. We will notify you of the last date for date after we have confirmed acceptance of your booking.
4.2 If your final payment is not received by the last date for payment, we reserve the right to treat your booking as cancelled. If your booking is cancelled in this manner, you agree that you will not be entitled to any refund whatsoever, including any deposit paid by you. That is, all deposits will be retained by us as payment of services for time and work applied to your booking.
4.3 If you have made a booking within 95 days of the start date of your itinerary, then full payment of the final quotation price by you to us is required at the time of booking.

Passenger details

5.1 We are not responsible for incorrect passenger details for flights and other services, including the Land Arrangements, which can be costly to change. You must check all of your documents thoroughly and advise us as soon as possible if there is any discrepancy. We will try our best to correct any details without cost to you however airlines and other operators used may have change / cancellation fees that we will have to pass on.
5.2 If you have booked any part of your itinerary with a company other than us, any changes to your overall services must be advised to your Eclipse Travel Pty Ltd sales contact immediately. We are not responsible for any issues that may arise when you have booked other services with a company other than us.

Documentation

6.1 Once your entire travel services, including the Land Arrangements, are confirmed, your final quoted itinerary and any necessary and available vouchers will be sent to you by post and/or email.
6.2 We may decline your booking for any reason (such reason we do not have to provide to you). If that happens we will return to you any monies paid by you to us as soon as possible, and in any event within 14 days.

Refunds of Deposits

7.1 Deposits are non-refundable, but in some cases, at our discretion, deposits may be transferable to another Eclipse Travel Pty Ltd booking.
7.2 In certain tour itineraries and/or cruises a minimum number of participants/bookings are required in order for the tour and/or cruise to go ahead. Therefore you have a right to cancel any tour and/or cruise for which there are insufficient reservations to meet any set minimum number of participants/bookings. In the event of any such cancellation, all deposits and/or other payments made specifically to us will be refunded to you in full.7.3 Refund of bookings
If deposit was made with Bitcoin, via an AUD or other currency invoice. The refund returned will be the invoice currency then converted by our Bitcoin payment gateway at the time, not at the previous rate used.

Cancellations by the client

8.1 If you cancel your booking, either through failure by you to pay any part of the final quotation price or for any other reason, we may charge a cancellation fee to you, and you will pay the cancellation fee to us, to be calculated as follows:

More than 120 days before the tour’s departure: loss of deposit.

Between 50 and 119 days before the tour’s departure: 60% of the holiday cost.

Between 22 and 49 days before the tour’s departure: 80% of the holiday cost.

21 days or less before the tour’s departure (or failure to join the tour): 100% of the holiday cost.

Note that with some land arrangements, flights and cruises, refunds depend on the particular rules of the airfare or cruise purchased and in the event of cancellation these costs may be charged in addition to the above terms.
The above time frames refer to the date that we receive notice of cancellation of your booking from you in writing.
If circumstances force you to leave your tour early, you will have to bear any additional costs yourself, but we will be happy to assist and make any further travel arrangements for you.
8.2 In any circumstances giving rise to cancellation prior to departure, we will consider allowing you to transfer the deposit and/or other money you have paid, to another Eclipse Travel Pty Ltd itinerary that you choose. Name changes are not permitted unless we have given consent for you to do so and any name change must be requested in writing more than 90 days prior to departure.
We strongly recommend that you purchase travel insurance from the date your deposit has been paid to us in order to cover any potential losses or cancellation fees.

Changes by the client

9.1 Any changes made by the client may be liable to change the final quotation price, including fees and/or fare increases. All client names and passport details must be provided to us at the time of the booking, and if the details provided to us are incorrect, you will be liable for any cost resulting from changing your details, including any fees associated with re-booking. All changes are subject to availability and you will be liable for any additional cost resulting from a change.

Cancellation by Eclipse Travel Pty Ltd

10.1 On rare occasions, and due to reasons beyond our control, our operators may decide to cancel a tour or particular service that you have purchased. In this circumstance we will do our best to find you a suitable replacement tour or service. However, in some circumstances, in finding a replacement tour or service there may be a variation in your booking cost.
10.2 In our complete discretion, we may cancel any tour or service, for which there are not enough reservations/bookings (in particular for cruises/treks); reasons of natural disasters; or any unforeseen circumstances. In the event of our cancellation, your deposit (and any other payment you may have made to us) will be refunded to you in full, or, if you prefer, transferred to an alternative booking made for you by us.
We strongly recommend that you purchase travel insurance from the date your deposit has been paid to us in order to cover any potential losses or cancellation fees.

Accommodation

11.1 We will arrange a type of accommodation as close as reasonably possible to the quoted accommodation on your itinerary, subject to the following:

We reserve the right to change your quoted accommodation to accommodation stated in our itineraries on our website if required (see below “changes of itinerary”).

Single rooms are normally available at an extra cost. However, if you so wish on certain parts of your itinerary, it may be possible for you to share a room (in particular for cruises/treks).

Accommodation in some countries will be of a lower standard than that of comparable accommodation found in Australia.

Changes of Itinerary

12.1 While we will endeavor to operate all itineraries as advertised or quoted, reasonable changes in your itinerary may be made by us or any tour operator where it is deemed necessary or advisable by us. If a major change in your itinerary is due to a force majeure, or unforeseen circumstances, no compensation is payable by us to you. Some changes to your itinerary may occur when you are on your tour as a result of unforeseen circumstances or local situations and you accept that any direct or indirect cost incurred by you as a result will be your responsibility. We will endeavour to ensure that any changes made to alter your itinerary will be made with your best interests in mind.

Payment Type

All payments from you to us may be made by the following methods:
13.1 Direct Deposit methods
If you choose this preferred method of payment we require from you a confirmation by email of your deposit paid to us. We require this confirmation in order to allow us to issue any urgent services, such as flights, on your booking.
Direct Deposit Details will be on your invoice
13.2 Credit card
We operate a Secure Payment gateway that will accept Credit Card payment for payment of the final quotation price by you to us. We work with a third party PCI DSS compliant payment solution which is certified with all major credit cards

Payment Protection

14.1 We are a member of ATAS accredited – A10902
The AFTA Travel Accreditation Scheme (ATAS) is an industry accreditation scheme that sets the benchmark of quality for the travel industry.
AFTA is committed, through ATAS, to elevating travel industry standards in Australia by driving increased and continued participation by travel intermediaries in ATAS and raising consumer awareness of the benefits of booking travel through an ATAS accredited agent.

Acceptance of risk

15.1 You accept that all travel has risks involved and that you travel to a destination at your own risk. You must perform your own due diligence in respect to making your own choices in regards to destinations, including reviewing all travel advisories.
15.2 You acknowledge that the nature of some of our itineraries, bookings and tours can be adventurous and may involve a significant amount of personal risk. You hereby assume all such risk for all itineraries, bookings and tours, and releases us from all losses, costs, damages, expenses, payments, claims or actions arising from illness, injury, disease, loss or damage to property, discomfort and inconvenience or death resulting from these inherent risks. To be clear, you agree that we will not be liable to you for any losses, costs, damages, expenses, payments, claims or actions suffered or incurred by you in relation to all itineraries, bookings and tours that you take. It is a condition of our bookings as in point 18.1 below that you must have adequate travel insurance to cover you should you have any problems while away.

Unused Services

16.1 There will be no discounts or monies refunded to you by us for missed or unused services, bookings or tours, including your voluntary or involuntary termination/departure from a tour including as a result of any sickness, death of a family member of yours etc, late arrival on the tour, or premature departure either voluntarily or involuntarily.

Flexibility

17.1 You understand and acknowledge that the nature of this type of travel and tours requires considerable flexibility, and therefore you should allow for reasonable changes to be made by us to the tour. It is understood that the route, schedules, itineraries, amenities and mode of transport in the tour may be subject to alteration without prior notice to you as a result of local circumstances or events, which may include sickness or mechanical breakdown, flight cancellations, strikes, events emanating from political disputes, entry or border difficulties, extreme weather and other unpredictable or unforeseeable circumstances or any other reason whatsoever.

Travel Insurance

18.1 It is a condition of booking a tour with us that you take out appropriate travel insurance cover. You must send us proof of that travel insurance cover when you make payment of the final quotation price to us for your tour.
18.2 Travel insurance cover should be taken out not only against normal travel risks, but also against additional risks appropriate to the destination country/ies in your tour. In particular, local road transport insurance may be inadequate, so you should check that your travel insurance cover includes accidents happening whilst you are a passenger in a vehicle. In regards to expedition cruising, travel insurance must cover ‘evacuation’ and ‘repatriation’.
18.3 We advise that you also check that any valuable optical equipment that you may take with you on your tour is covered either in your travel insurance policy or your home contents insurance policy.
18.4 To be clear, we cannot approve the travel insurance cover you have bought, and we are not responsible if your travel insurance cover is inadequate to meet your requirements.
18.5 Eclipse Travel will assist with documentation required for any insurance claim however if the insurance has not been taken out with Eclipse Travel we will charge a $250 admin fee. This fee will be added to your insurance claim.

Passport, Visa and Health Requirements

19.1 You must carry a valid passport and have obtained all of the appropriate visas, permits, vaccinations and certificates for the country/ies in which you will visit during your tour. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are in possession of the correct visas, permits, vaccinations and certificates for your tour. We are not responsible if you are refused entry to a country because you lack the correct passport, visa or other travel documentation. Your passport must be valid for 6 months beyond the duration of the tour (i.e. the day you return to Australia). Please visit http://smarttraveller.gov.au/ for more information

Limitations on our liability

20.1 We want you to enjoy a perfect tour with us. We shall do our best to make your tour special for you. Nonetheless, we must make clear the limitations in law. We are not liable to you for:

any event which happens before you board your transport to begin your tour’s itinerary organised by us;

any problem arising from your failure to reach the tour’s Meeting Point on time, for whatever reason (though we would do our best to help you in any way we reasonably could);

the numbers or quality of wildlife or weather you experience while on our tour;

any aspect of goods or services you buy or accept other than those arranged by us;

medical problems or physical difficulties, even if you have told us about them in advance;

medical emergencies;

your own carelessness or negligence in any aspect of your behaviour whilst with us;

laws, culture and standards of service and behaviour in any country/ies you may visit;

changes we reasonably make to an itinerary or to accommodation or any other aspect of the management of your tour;

Problems or issues which we could have resolved whilst you were on a tour, but which you only raised after your return from the tour.

Furthermore:

We and you are subject to international conventions, when they apply. This may limit the amount of a claim you may be make, against us or anyone else.

The services and features included in your tour are those specified in our website, brochures and itinerary. If you choose to buy other goods or services during your tour, those are not part of the package we provide. Accordingly we are not liable to you for any happening in connection with those goods or services.

Complaints

21.1 We shall try our utmost to provide you with a happy and fulfilling tour, but if we fail in any way, do please raise any issue with us immediately. If your complaint is not dealt with by us to your satisfaction at the time of reporting it to the tour leader(s), then you should give us full details in writing, immediately on your return. We cannot respond to verbal complaints.

Applicable Law

22.1 This contract shall be interpreted in accordance with the laws of Australia and the state of NSW. Any dispute arising in connection with this contract shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the NSW courts.

Assignment and subcontracting

23.1 You must not assign, subcontract or otherwise transfer any right or liability under this contract without our prior written consent.

Severability

24.1 If any provision of this contract is held to be invalid or unenforceable in any way the remaining provisions will not be affected and this contract will be construed so as to most nearly give effect to the intentions of the parties at the time it was executed.

Variations

25.1 This contract can only be varied or amended in writing.

Third parties

26.1 This contract confers rights only upon a person expressed to be a party.

Communication

27.1 On completion of your booking Eclipse Travel will maintain your details on its newsletter and survey mailing lists. Your subscription can be cancelled at any stage at your request.